An Iranian court has begun trial of four members of a prostitution ring discovered last February of being engaged in the smuggling of young girls to Arabian Gulf states, a press report said Thursday, cited by the Iranian official news agency (IRNA).

The government-run daily `Iran,' in a report, said four female `pimps' have been charged with selling young girls, aged between 13 and 17, to customers in Arab countries of the Gulf, particularly Dubai, as sex slaves.

The daily quoted a suspect as saying "wealthy, (dirty) old men in Dubai pay a lot for these Iranian girls aged between 12 and 15."

The suspect, known only by her first name Jamileh, told the court: "If a girl is caught trying to flee she is with more reason turned over to old men aged between 80 and 90."

In February, Tehran's top judge Abbas-Ali Alizadeh said that the team, organized to undertake the specific activity, targeted girls between 13 to 17 years who are drug addicts or of divorced parents.

"Some parents even cooperated with the gang in hopes of obtaining financial gain."

Last week, the press also reported of a revolutionary court judge and several civil servants being tried in a closed courtroom session on charges of molesting teenage girls with law breaking records – Albawaba.com